NEW WARS / OLD WARS – What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

NEW WARS / OLD WARS – What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

 

How Do You Bomb an Idea?

Horrific as they were, the shootings in San Bernardino and the bombings last year in Boston apparently had no operational connection with the Islamic State.  Instead, the individuals were motivated by their own idea of religious fervor, sharpened by a sense of grievance over the killings of many thousands of Muslims through the military intervention of the US and its allies.  It in no way justifies these domestic atrocities to recognize that the grievance has some justification.  More bombing or invasions in response to “terrorism” will only exacerbate the anger that leads individuals to turn to violence and suicidal despair.  Never mind the failure to examine our own historical role in mobilizing religious sentiment as a means of furthering US interests in the Middle East, as typified by our long-standing alliance with the fanatical ideology of the Wahhabi-Saudi monarchy.

 

Tom Engelhart writes:

After all, when James Holmes slaughtered 12 people in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, in July 2012, and that December Adam Lanza killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, no one talked about World War IV and the president did not address us from the Oval Office.  Nor were Americans speaking obsessively and anxiously about their fear of being ambushed anywhere in their lives (though they were no less subject to that possibility than they are now).  The more than 1,000 “mass shootings” and 1,300 dead since Sandy Hook, and the 355 such incidents in which at least four people were injured or killed so far this year alone, almost none connected to Islamic terrorism and many minor indeed, weren’t considered firefights in World War IV and, despite the obvious dangers, the national security state wasn’t put on high alert to protect us…  If you want to be fearful of anything, don’t get into your vehicle, since that’s where 32,000 Americans die every year.  Above all, don’t arm yourself to fight off the Islamic State in your local restaurant, supermarket, or workplace, since the figures clearly indicate that it’s so much more likely you’ll pick up that weapon in a depressed or angry mood and kill yourself (or someone else), or that your toddler will find it unlocked and shoot you.

 

Washington to Whomever:

PLEASE FIGHT THE ISLAMIC STATE FOR US

In the many strategies proposed to defeat the Islamic State (IS) by presidential candidates, policymakers, and media pundits alike across the American political spectrum, one common element stands out: someone else should really do it. The United States will send in planes, advisers, and special ops guys, but it would be best -- and this varies depending on which pseudo-strategist you cite -- if the Arabs, Kurds, Turks, Sunnis, and/or Shias would please step in soon and get America off the hook… Expecting the Gulf Arab states to fight IS also ignores the complex political relationship between those nations and Islamic fundamentalism generally. The situation is clearest in Saudi Arabia, where the secular royal family holds power only with the shadowy permission of Wahhabist religious leaders… Secretary of State John Kerry can join the calls for the use of “indigenous forces” as often as he wants, but the reality is clear: Washington’s policy in Syria and Iraq is bound to fail, no matter who does the fighting.     More

 

 

US-Backed Forces Fight Turkey-Backed Forces in Northern Syria

Groups that have received support from the United States or its allies have turned their guns on each other in a northern corner of Syria, highlighting the difficulties of mobilizing forces on the ground against Islamic State.  As they fought among themselves before reaching a tenuous ceasefire on Thursday, Islamic State meanwhile edged closer to the town of Azaz that was the focal point of the clashes near the border with Turkey.  Combatants on one side are part of a new U.S.-backed alliance that includes a powerful Kurdish militia, and to which Washington recently sent military aid to fight Islamic State.  Their opponents in the flare-up include rebels who are widely seen as backed by Turkey and who have also received support in a U.S.-backed aid program.  More

 

Pentagon Seeks New Foreign Bases "to fight ISIS"

As American intelligence agencies grapple with the expansion of the Islamic State beyond its headquarters in Syria, the Pentagon has proposed a new plan to the White House to build up a string of military bases in Africa, Southwest Asia and the Middle East.  The bases could be used for collecting intelligence and carrying out strikes against the terrorist group’s far-flung affiliates…  senior military officials have told the White House that the network of bases would serve as hubs for Special Operations troops and intelligence operatives who would conduct counterterrorism missions for the foreseeable future. The plan would all but ensure what Pentagon officials call an “enduring” American military presence in some of the world’s most volatile regions.   More

 

Syria rebels agree talks with government - but pre-conditions, disunity undercut prospects

The summit ended in confusion on Thursday amid reports that Ahrar al-Sham, one of the biggest Islamist rebel groups fighting on the ground, had walked out over the inclusion of what they called “pro-regime” figures in the talks.  A joint statement was issued at the end of two days of talks, stating that President Assad must have no role in any transitional government - there were conflicting reports as to whether Ahrar al-Sham had signed.  Though the statement reiterated the delegates’ opposition to Assad retaining any power, it did say that the opposition is “ready to negotiate with representatives of the Syrian regime…within a specific timeframe that would be agreed on with the United Nations”.  The conference succeeded in electing a 33-member Supreme Council for Negotiations, which met on Friday to choose who will meet representatives of Assad’s government in the first 10 days of January.   More

 

Detailed scorecard. . .

All You Need to Know About Syria’s Opposition Conferences

This rush of political meetings is a direct consequence of the agreement struck in Vienna on November 14, when a group of states calling themselves the International Syria Support Group issued a joint communiqué laying out their vision of how to resolve the conflict in Syria. The group included all the major players in Syria, such as the United States, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar. Their communiqué called for negotiations between Assad and the opposition as soon as possible, with a target date of January 1. This very early date was apparently backed by the United States and intended to gain momentum and add a sense of urgency to the process.    More

 

A Special Relationship: The United States is teaming up with Al Qaeda, again

In the spring and summer of last year, a coalition of Syrian rebel groups calling itself Jaish al-Fatah — the Army of Conquest — swept through the northwestern province of Idlib, posing a serious threat to the Assad regime. Leading the charge was Al Qaeda’s Syrian branch, known locally as Jabhat al-Nusra (the Nusra Front). The other major component of the coalition was Ahrar al-Sham, a group that had formed early in the anti-Assad uprising and looked for inspiration to none other than [Afghaninstan mujahid] Abdullah Azzam… Even as we have continued our desultory bombing campaign against the Islamic State, Ahrar al-Sham and Nusra are creeping closer and closer to international respectability. A month after the London Eleven meeting, a group of scholars from the Brookings Institution published an op-ed making the case for Ahrar al-Sham: “Designating [the] group as a terrorist organization might backfire by pushing it completely into Al Qaeda’s camp.” (The think tank’s recent receipt of a multiyear, $15 million grant from Qatar was doubtless coincidental.)   More

 

TIGER BY THE TAIL: Saudi Arabia and Violent Islam

It seems that there has been a rapidly building expression of international disquiet about the relationship between the ideology of Salafi Jihadism and Wahhabism, the state religion of Saudi Arabia (and—less well-known—of Qatar.)…  It’s not as if various national intelligence agencies haven’t become aware of the capability of Salafi jihadism only in the last year or so: in its current version, it’s been around for the last 30 years and more. Indeed, the West rode the Salafi jihadi tiger to defeat the Soviet drive to seize Afghanistan. Once oil brought enormous revenues, Saudi Arabia exported Wahhabism through formal and informal means, spreading first across the Middle East, the subcontinent, and into Central Asia, at the same time, pushing across the Maghreb, the Sahel, and into West Africa; and from Somalia down the Swahili coast of East Africa toward South Africa…   In the face of such a violent puritanical ideology, one might have hoped that politicians would do something. Thus far, the main thing that they have done is to continue to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia.     More

 

German vice-chancellor accuses Saudi Arabia of funding Islamic extremism in the West

Sigmar Gabriel said that the Saudi regime is funding extremist mosques and communities that pose a danger to public security.

“We have to make clear to the Saudis that the time of looking away is over,” Mr Gabriel told Bild am Sonntag newspaper in an interview.

“Wahhabi mosques all over the world are financed by Saudi Arabia. Many Islamists who are a threat to public safety come from these communities in Germany.”   The allegation that Saudi Arabia has funded mosques with links to Islamist terrorism in the West is not new. But it is highly unusual for a Western leader to speak out so directly against the West’s key Arab ally.  More

 

Former Drone Pilots Denounce 'Morally Outrageous' Program

In interviews with NBC News, three former servicemen — who together have 15 years of military drone experience — decried the civilian cost of drone strikes and called on President Obama to "turn this around" before he leaves office.  "We were very callous about any real collateral damage," said Michael Haas, 29, who worked as both a drone operator and instructor. "Whenever that possibility came up, most of the time it was a 'guilt by association' or sometimes we didn't even consider other people that were on screen."  … American drone strikes have increased exponentially under President Obama; in Pakistan alone, the current administration has launched 370 strikes compared to the Bush administration's 51, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which tracks the attacks. Add Somalia and Yemen (using New America Foundation data), and President Obama has launched 894 percent more drone strikes than did his predecessor.     More

 

Air Force to Double Number of Drone Squadrons

The decision would add about 3,000 personnel, including at least 700 more pilots, 700 sensor operators, and other maintenance and crew. There are currently eight squadrons.  Gen. Herbert Carlisle, head of U.S. Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, says adding squadrons to potential sites such as Langley and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona could help connect drone operations with intelligence-gathering units.  He says the Air Force will work with the Pentagon and Congress to get the needed funding.   More

 

Combating the Islamic State: Turkey the Spoiler

Turkey has disrupted efforts to isolate and weaken the Islamic State (ISIS or IS) since last year. Having the longest border with Syria, Turkey has been a serious obstacle in dealing with the military challenge IS poses as well as the consequences of IS brutality and the Syrian regime’s ruthlessness… Making matters worse, Turkish smugglers, customs officials, and even intelligence operatives thrived off illicit imports of oil and refined fuels from the Islamic State. Ankara did precious little to interdict this lucrative trade. Although only a small portion of Turkey’s overall oil imports, the trade generated significant funding for IS to meet the basic military and economic needs of its self-styled state… Turkey continues to function as a virtual thruway for IS recruits from abroad… Turkey has intercepted dribs and drabs of such IS wannabes, but this has been a trifle compared to those getting through. Worse still, Erdogan’s Islamist ruling AKP Party has largely turned a blind eye to extensive IS recruiting in more militantly Islamic areas of Turkey itself, according to an official of Turkey’s Human Rights Association.   More

 

US AIRFORCE ANALYST: How Turkey Ambushed Russia's Su-24

Looking at the detailed Russian timeline of what happened—as well as the much less detailed Turkish radar maps—I’d say the evidence looks pretty strong that the Turks were setting up an ambush. They certainly weren’t doing anything that would point to a routine air patrol along the border. Their actions in no way represented a routine, all day long type of patrol… I do believe that the F-16s never issued any warnings, because it would be astonishing if they did. Here they went to all the trouble of tanking up and flying at a very low altitude, stretching their fuel endurance just to stay out of radar coverage of the Russians and the Syrians, and then why would they suddenly announce that they were there by warning the fighters when they had so obviously set up a situation where they were hiding? The ground-control station in Turkey probably did issue warnings, but they may have been warnings that were intended not to be received.   More

 

What Are Turkish Troops Doing in Northern Iraq?

Last week, several hundred Turkish troops, backed by tanks and artillery, rolled across the Iraqi border and took up positions near the city of Mosul, which has been held, since last year, by ISIS. The Turks have since reinforced the battalion with warplanes and intelligence officers…  The Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, protested loudly. So has the United States. So what happened? And why are the Turks sending their troops into the volatile country, anyway?  … As much as any other leader in the region, Erdoğan has pushed vigorously for the removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. To see this through, the Turkish government has backed the most extreme rebel groups, including ISIS, allowing and even helping foreign fighters to come into Turkey and cross into Syria. ISIS would never have metastasized as virulently as it has without Turkey’s assistance… The Turkish troops that rolled across the border last week took up positions in the town of Bashiqa, a few miles outside of Mosul. The public reason given by the Turks is that the troops were sent to bolster a contingent of forces that was already there to train a Sunni militia. But no one really believes that.     More

 

Defense Contractors Cite “Benefits” of Escalating Conflicts in the Middle East

Major defense contractors Raytheon, Oshkosh, and Lockheed Martin assured investors at a Credit Suisse conference in West Palm Beach this week that they stand to gain from the escalating conflicts in the Middle East.  Lockheed Martin Executive Vice President Bruce Tanner told the conference his company will see “indirect benefits” from the war in Syria, citing the Turkish military’s recent decision to shoot down a Russian warplane.  The incident, Tanner said, heightens the risk for U.S. military operations in the region, providing “an intangible lift because of the dynamics of that environment and our products in theater.” He also stressed that the Russian intervention would highlight the need for Lockheed Martin-made F-22s and the new F-35 jets.  And for “expendable” products, such as a rockets, Tanner added that there is increased demand, including from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia because of the war in Yemen.   More

 

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ISRAEL, PALESTINE AND THE US

Trump announced last week that he was planning a trip to see Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu this month – and then promptly cancelled his plan “until after he is elected president.”  Netanyahu was at pains to declare that he did nothing to discourage Trump’s visit.

 

Trump is no more racist than mainstream Israeli policy

Israeli politicians are joining the global pushback against Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim racism. But guess what other country bans Muslim immigration?  Just days after Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump announced that he will be visiting Israel by the end of December, the billionaire populist called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” … Racism — and various forms of discrimination against Muslims, Arabs, and Palestinians — is just as rampant here in Israel as it is inside the Trump camp, if not more so. Except in Israel, racism and ethno-religious discrimination is not only accepted rhetoric in the halls of power and the sidewalk cafes of Tel Aviv, it is also long-standing formal state policy.  Trump called to ban Muslims from entering the United States. In Israel, there is already a law banning Muslims from immigrating — the “Law of Return” which gives that right to Jews alone. Even those who were born here but fled, or whose families lived here for generations upon generations, are forbidden from returning.   More

 

Trump’s religion test for immigrants is standard practice in Israel

Israel practices many of the policies that Trump wants the U.S. to implement.  For instance, Israeli airport security officials routinely ask travelers what their religion is and often bar Muslims as a result. Last night, Chris Matthews was enraged by Trump’s recommendation that American immigration officials ask travelers if they are Muslim. But our own State Department has blasted Israel for denying “entry or exit without explanation”– notably to “those whom Israeli authorities suspect of being of Arab, Middle Eastern, or Muslim origin.”   More

 

U.S. donors gave settlements more than $220 million in tax-exempt funds over five years

Private U.S. donors are massively funding Israeli settlements by using a network of tax-exempt nonprofits, which funnelled more than $220 million (about 850 million shekels) to Jewish communities in the West Bank in 2009-2013 alone, a Haaretz investigation has found.

The funding is being used for anything from buying air conditioners to supporting the families of convicted Jewish terrorists, and comes from tax-deductible donations made to around 50 U.S.-based groups. Thanks to their status as nonprofits, these organizations are not taxed on their income and donations made to them are tax deductible – meaning the U.S. government is incentivizing and indirectly supporting the Israeli settlement movement, even though it has been consistently opposed by every U.S. administration for the past 48 years.   More

 

Poll: Evangelical Republicans are Bibi’s Biggest American Fans

Despite his renewed courtship of Democrats (including an embarrassingly eager-to-please Center for American Progress), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has widened the increasingly striking partisan divide over his popularity in the United States. However, there is one bloc of American voters on whom the Israeli prime minister can rely for consistent support—self-described evangelical Christian Republicans.   The percentage of Democrats who view Netanyahu unfavorably rose from 22% to 34% over the past year, according to a new survey of U.S. opinion towards Israel, Palestine, and the Middle East released Friday… The divergence between evangelical Republicans and other voters, including non-evangelical Republicans, was most striking on the question of whether America should pick sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. When asked whether the United States should lean toward one of the two sides, or neither side, when mediating the conflict, 30% of respondents overall said that the U.S. should lean toward Israel, as compared to 66% who believed the U.S. should remain neutral. Among all Republicans, 45% believe the U.S. should support Israel over the Palestinians. But when you remove evangelicals from that group, the number goes down to 36% (with 60% saying the U.S. should remain neutral), consistent with the general public.

A full 77% of evangelical Republicans, on the other hand, want the U.S. to support Israel over the Palestinians.     More

 

While Massachusetts' lawmakers visit “democratic” Israel. . .

Israeli Occupation Court Sentences Palestinian Legislator for Thought Crimes

An Israeli court sentenced, Sunday, democratically-elected leftist Palestinian legislator, and a senior political leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Khaleda Jarrar to 15 months imprisonment.  The army kidnapped the legislator on April 2nd of this year, and on April 5th, she was sentenced for six months imprisonment, under arbitrary Administrative Detention orders, without charges.

On April 15, the Israeli military prosecutor’s office filed an indictment of twelve charges against Jarrar, including what it called “membership in an illegal organization,” in addition to “holding and participating in protests” in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners.   More